Reusing Brass for Dry Firing

[Lon C.]

Hello All,

A few weekends ago, I took my NIB S&W 327 R8 to the range for her maiden voyage. Don't know which was more gratifying...shooting or having inquisitive [envious?!] range masters coming over to inquire.

Anyway, I've read that some folks advocate reusing spent brass shells for dry fire; remove the primer cap and fill the void with RTV silicone then let it dry. As a new shooter, I'd like to ask what is the best way to remove the primer cap? Never done this before and I'm not going to be using the cartridges for reloading, if that matters.

Have a safe and glorious July 4th! When time permits, say a prayer for all of our brave men and women in Afghanistan...

Many thanks for taking the time to respond!

Lon

[baih777]

Using a spent casing.

Pin punch. The diameter of the primer hole.
A block of wood with a hole drilled in it at least the diameter of the primer.
Just knock it thru.

[orangeusa]

I would just buy snapcaps. I also use spent shells.

Who gave this RTV idea to you? I just never heard of that.

If you are set on the RTV thing, you can do it with a nail. No kidding.

And any reloader (or yourself) can pop a spent primer.. Thats what we do.


.

[Divernhunter]

A small pin punch and place the brass on a socket(like used with a ratchet_ so the primer can fall out. Hit with a hammer but not too hard or the punch will stick and even bent the bottom of the brass.
RTV or take a pencil eraser off a pencil and fit into the hole. Glue it in with a touch of glue or better yet RTV type stuff with some give and cut off flush with the base of the brass.

Better yet is snap caps

[racinjason233]

Put case head in vise or vice grips and use a drill bit. It will spin and pull right out. Punch system also works. If your near me swing by and do a bunch quickly with my universal depriming die.

[mjmagee67]

I've dry fired my S&W revolvers literally 10 of thousands of times.....never had an issue. Just pull the trigger you will be fine and will not hurt the gun.

[madmike88]

Hello All,

A few weekends ago, I took my NIB S&W 327 R8 to the range for her maiden voyage. Don't know which was more gratifying...shooting or having inquisitive [envious?!] range masters coming over to inquire.

Nice gun. I have the 627 in both 5" and 2.5" barrels. They are so nice to shoot. When I broke out the 2.5" at the range I had a bunch of "inquisitive" on lookers.

I let a friend shoot it and he had a BIG grin the whole time.

this is the one i want next: https://www.smith-wesson.com/firearm...nter-model-327

Just use SnapCaps.

[gaberaynes]

Set of 6 snap caps are like $8 on eBay

[Cokebottle]

I would just buy snapcaps. I also use spent shells.
Who gave this RTV idea to you? I just never heard of that.
If you are set on the RTV thing, you can do it with a nail. No kidding.
And any reloader (or yourself) can pop a spent primer.. Thats what we do.

I've heard of RTV, or hot glue.
Two problems:
The spent brass has been expanded and will no longer easily go in and out of the chamber.

The potential for mixing up the "dummy" with a live round. Dummy rounds are painted blue, red, or orange for a reason.

[Dragginpanda]

Put the spent brass over a bolt. The bolt hole has to be big enough for the primer to fall thru. Knock out the primer with a punch.

[someoneeasy]

Put the spent brass over a bolt. The bolt hole has to be big enough for the primer to fall thru. Knock out the primer with a punch.

You're probably thinking a nut

[tonyjr]

Cheaper and easier to just buy snap caps .
You can gat a lee hand loader [ 20-40 on ebay ] that will resize brass
and take out primer .
A nail , drill bit , punch maybe even a coat hanger and a nut , wood
with hole , all most anything with a small hole
Like already said paint the practice with nail polish [ 1 dollar at dollar
store

[Bullets&Whitewalls]

I ended up buying snap caps because here's what happens, the rtv doesn't stay in the primer hole. And rtv ends up costing more than the snap caps unless you have other uses for it. And you need to re size the case for it to work the best as well as re crimp a projectile into it so its not a pain to chamber it. And then if you still go this far use dychem on the dummy round not paint otherwise you end up with flaked paint in your chamber...……… just buy the snap caps I gotta go clean out some more paint......

[tonyjr]

You just paint the base , not the whole case .
Lke you say , even if you have RTV , it is still a pain .
FYI , I make a list of things to do with almost anything like RTV .
Example would be batteries - I get them at costco and list
everything that uses batteries .
Smoke detEctors , carbon mox , scales , remote for garage - VCR ,
cable , DVD , clocks [ back up for when power goes out ]and
I have a harbor fright battery holder for the ones left .

[bergmen]

What I have done is find an O-ring with the cross-section the same (or slightly smaller) than the primer cup. Slice with razor blade about the same length as the primer and super glue in place.

Works perfectly.

Dan